UBI-Europe gains BIEN affiliation

In a move to facilitate better cooperation with the worldwide movement for basic income, Unconditional Basic Income Europe (UBIEurope) has successfully applied to become an affiliate of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN).

At the end of its 15th International Congress, BIEN’s General Assembly approved the application of Unconditional Basic Income Europe to become an affiliate organisation of the worldwide network. The congress was held 27-29 June 2014 in Montreal, Canada with the title “Re-democratizing the Economy”. It included a panel on the latest developments in campaigning for basic income in Switzerland and the European Union with Enno Schmidt and UBIEurope’s Stanislas Jourdan.

Created in 1986 in Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium), the BIEN is the first and oldest international organisation to promote the concept of basic income, and serves as an umbrella organisation to more than 20 national BIEN-affiliated networks. Basic income networks in France, Portugal and Norway were also recognised as affiliates of BIEN during the General Assembly this year. In addition, Anja Askeland, co-chair of Norway’s network, was appointed secretary of BIEN for the next two years. Many existing organisations working with UBIEurope are already affiliated with BIEN, including the networks in Finland, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Slovenia and the Netherlands. UBIEurope was the second regional network to be granted affiliation after the acceptance of the Southern Africa Development Community at the same meeting.

BIEN Congress 2014 at McGill University (Montreal)

BIEN affiliation is usually granted to national networks for basic income, under the condition that those networks are effectively bridging the diversity of basic income supporters. Being an affiliate of BIEN does not reduce the autonomy and independence of those organisations.

“We’ve worked well with BIEN and other BIEN-affiliated groups across Europe for over a year now. This affiliation will strengthen UBIEurope’s links with established people and organisations working on the issue of basic income around the globe,” commented Barb Jacobson, Chair of UBIEurope. “We have a lot to learn from them.”